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Devotion to the "Blessed Virgin Mary" (as she is commonly called by Catholics) has been a centerpiece of Catholic belief and piety for centuries. However, the last century and a half has seen a dramatic increase in Marian devotion. This resurgence of the "cultus of the Virgin" can be attributed to two primary factors. First, Mary's already exalted status in the church was substantially enhanced by Catholicism's official acceptance of the Marian dogmas known as the Immaculate Conception (1854) and the Assumption (1950).[1] The second force behind Mary's growth in popularity, especially among the laity, is not so much doctrinal...

The military garrison in San Vicente del Caguan, in the southern department of Caqueta, has been blessed by a Marian apparition, according to soldiers in the area. In an interview with Caracol TV, one soldier said, "The truth is that she was a marvelous surprise. I realized it was her, without a doubt, because no painter exists here that could make an image as marvelous as her." The "divine manifestation" was seen in the window pane of a building housing a battalion of soldiers. The vision has created a fervor among Catholics who have come to see the Virgin and...

Like her boss Barack Obama, Ohio Democratic Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy has been accused of hiding a radical past. Further evidence has emerged confirming that Congresswoman Kilroy was once a member of America's largest marxist organization Democratic Socialists of America. In this post New Zeal provided documentary evidence that Kilroy was a member of D.S.A. in the early 1990s and was supported by that organization in both her 2006 and 2008 Congressional races. Now comes more confirmation of kilroy's socialist ties from an article in Oakland California based marxist journal CrossRoads;, October 1992. The author Bob Fitrakis, is also a...

The mixed marriage of parents of the well-known Mainz Priest, Father Hendrick Jolie, produced an alienation from religion in his family. But suddenly, everything changed and nothing was the same as it was. [kreuz.net] I was not "unpious" as a young person, explained the well-known Mainz Priest, Father Hendrick Jolie, in an interview today with the Linz site 'kath.net'. The clergyman came from a mixed marriage. "It created a kind of distance from the Church," according to him.

“The Hall of Faith Adds Mary” (Hebrews 11:1 – 12:3; Luke 1:26-55)The Hall of Fame, in any sport, is the place for honoring and showcasing outstanding individuals from the history of that sport. The person is honored in an induction ceremony, with all the other members of the Hall present. That player’s plaque is added to the wall, and people can read and see what a standout that person was. This year, for instance, the Baseball Hall of Fame added two new members familiar to many of us here: Whitey Herzog, the great manager from the St. Louis Cardinals, and...

Is Ohio Democratic Congresswoman and Homeland Security Committee member Mary Jo Kilroy, a covert socialist? Evidence has emerged that in the early 1990s, Mary Jo Kilroy, then an Ohio lawyer and activist, was a member of the U.S.'s largest Marxist-based organization, Democratic Socialists of America (D.S.A.). Furthermore, while running as a Democrat, Mary Jo Kilroy was backed by her D.S.A. comrades in her both unsuccessful (2006) and successful (2008) races for U.S. congress. D.S.A. has long been influential inside the Ohio Democratic Party. In 1990 D.S.A. member Tom Erney unsuccessfully ran for Congress on the Democratic Party ticket. in 1992,...

Worcester, Mass., Jun 26, 2010 / 01:14 pm (CNA).- “When I grow up, I want to be like him,” The 5-year-old was talking about the priest. But while still a child the boy fell in love – with the image of Our Lady of Fatima. “If I find a woman who looks like her, and has her characteristics, I’ll marry her,” he decided. “For 34 years I’ve never met that woman,” he says now. “I guess the Blessed Mother wants me. I’m all hers. Like John Paul II said, ‘Totus Tuus Maria.’” This is the story of Deacon Lowe Bretaña...

"The priority for our players is to recognize they are at the University of Notre Dame to play for Our Lady" --new head football coach of Notre Dame, Brian Kelly, in his (fundraising) letter to the alumni. "Father Jenkins' decision [to invite President Obama to speak at Notre Dame and award him an honorary degree] is a deliberate thumbing of the collective nose at the Catholic Church...Notre Dame has forfeited the right to be called a Catholic University" --from recently deceased professor of philosophy, Ralph McInerny, who taught for over 50 years at Notre Dame (and who recalled when the department's...

Mother Potter's Marian MissionAt the end of 1874, Mother Potter received the inner certitude that she and the religious Congregation she was to institute (The Little Company of Mary) were called to foster devotion to the Maternal Heart of Mary. "We are chosen," wrote Mother Potter, . . . to promulgate in God's Church an increase of devotion to the Maternal Heart of Mary. We must increase our love for Our Lady and her sweet Maternal Heart, which makes us desire to propagate that devotion and to lead as many of God's vast family as we can to love and...

Vandals ransacked a Catholic Church in Maywood on Monday in an incident that police are classifying as a hate crime. The vandals broke into the Santa Rosa de Lima Church, where they defecated in an auditorium, scrawled "666" in the kitchen and stuck a knife in a painting of the Virgin Mary, the Maywood-Cudahy Police Department said. "The vandalism was of a heinous nature, and in fact, consistent with a hate crime," the department said in a news release.

Pentecost marks a time when Mary's presence is of singular importance, says a specialist in Marian studies.  In this interview with ZENIT, Discalced Carmelite Father Jesús Castellano Cervera, who is also a consultor for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, elaborated on the Blessed Virgin's presence at the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Q: The time we are now living is the conclusion of Eastertide and of the month of May. Is it of special Marian relevance? Father Castellano Cervera: I think the time extending from the Ascension to Pentecost is a particularly Marian time.  The fact emphasized...

This summer marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Humanae Vitae. It is hard to believe that so many years have passed, more than a generation. How swiftly it has gone, and how changed is the face of our world. Let us not blame war or economic trouble or abortion for the current state of the world, for this would be to blame symptoms and ignore the source of the disease. It is, in fact, contraception that is destroying Western civilization. In many of the documents of Vatican II and in subsequent papal encyclicals, the...

FOLLOWING A period of intense prayer during which he knelt on damp grass as he gazed heavenwards at Knock shrine yesterday, self-proclaimed visionary Joe Coleman claimed he had been imparted a “fantastic message” by Our Lady. Jabbing his finger at a cloudy sky, Mr Coleman said: “I seen her there and I seen her there. She did make herself known.” Although reluctant to go into any details about the “message” he had received, Mr Coleman did say the Blessed Virgin had been angry about the way he had been treated by shrine authorities. He complained that he and his followers...

In the storm of confusion and misinformation which has greeted the question of a papal definition of the dogma of Mary Coredemptix, Mediatrix, and Advocate, St. Maximilian Kolbe's well known question regarding the Mother of God, "Who are you, O Immaculata?" takes on new poignancy and urgency. Who is she? Who is she really, and what is God doing through this unique woman? Mary is both Mary of Nazareth and "the Woman" of Revelation. But how can this be? Is she two persons? Alternatively, is she perhaps one person in two religious "costumes"? Is she only a model of fidelity,...

The 3:30 Beads A few days back, on May 10, Irisshlass commented to me; Maybe we Catholics here can form a prayer group and at a certain hour of the day or night, we all say our rosaries in our home. Even though we are not together we are in heart ... Although I am not a speck Irish, my husband's roots (he's a "Grogan-O'Toole") have worn off on me a bit, and I could hardly think of denyin' the suggestion of an "Irisshlass." So without further ado[s], here are the "rules." Join us in saying a Rosary every day...

Tonight, at least, I have no words to express what I perceive to be the significance of this Act of Consecration in the context of The Year of the Priest. I have nothing but joy, and an immense gratitude to the Holy Father. Consecration of Priests to the Immaculate Heart of MaryImmaculate Mother, in this place of grace, called together by the love of your Son Jesus the Eternal High Priest, we, sons in the Son and his priests, consecrate ourselves to your maternal Heart, in order to carry out faithfully the Father's Will. We are mindful that, without Jesus,...

Isn't it interesting that as the United States of America approaches the 50th anniversary of this nation's most popular recreational drug, the birth control pill, special interest media is ginning up the presses — or in this case, the web sites — with all sorts of ideas for the next 50 years. A sampling of what America's birth control worshippers are saying may give one pause to rethink. For example, on May 3, the Los Angeles Biomedical Research institute (LA BioMed) announced "that it has received $1.5 million in grant funding to study a contraceptive for men that uses a...

Hail Holy QueenMary (the mother of Jesus) was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee, identified in the New Testament as the wife of Joseph and the mother of Jesus of Nazareth. Christians believe Mary conceived Jesus miraculously by the agency of the Holy Spirit. For twenty centuries, Christians have cherished Mary and given her titles that reflect their love and admiration—such as the Blessed Virgin Mary, Theotokos (Mother of God), Our Lady, and Queen of Heaven. As the most celebrated woman in Christendom, Mary is considered the epitome of virtue by Christians, especially Catholics and Orthodox. Protestants generally perceive...

Judging by the laudatory articles on the birth control pill popping up all over the Web in recent days, one might conclude that the pill was in fact the greatest invention since sliced multigrain bread. One such article, written by professor and author Elaine Tyler May, appears in The Washington Post. May writes: Today, we celebrate both motherhood and the pill. It is Mother's Day, and it is the 50th anniversary of the day the Food and Drug Administration announced that it would approve the pill — though the dream of an oral contraceptive is much older. The birth control...

Maximillian's Marian Spirituality by Father John A. Hardon, S.J. [1914-2000] We will reconstruct the main features of Maximillian's spirituality. The spirituality of St. Maximillian is based directly on this truth: that the Immaculate Virgin Mary is the Mediatrix of all graces. That is the first premise of his Marian thinking. If this were not so, Maximillian explains, all our strength and effort in the spiritual life would be in vain. In other words, our spiritual life depends on grace. That's obvious, but it also depends on the grace that we must receive through Mary. Second, the Blessed Virgin Mary is...